When Hofstadter wrote those words, he had the John Birch Society in mind. The group’s modern-day descendants have migrated to the Web, finding a home on sites like Infowars — or, in Tremblay’s case, with the talk radio host Glenn Beck.

After Tremblay’s comments, the New Hampshire GOP strongly disavowed her, and a local newspaper called for her resignation. However, Tremblay has refused to quit, or even apologize. Tremblay has insisted she has the right to say whatever she wants — which is true, of course, and also completely beside the point. Some statements just aren’t appropriate for public servants.

The paranoid fringe, Hofstadter observed, may view itself as a lonely “avant-garde who is capable of perceiving the conspiracy.” But working politicians, he argued, have a duty to keep a toehold in reality. That’s something Tremblay apparently refuses to do. She can keep peddling her idiotic theories if she wants — but shouldn’t do so from elected office.